Father in loan shark dispute, stabbed to death in front of 6-year-old daughter

A NORTH Coast family is devastated after a single father was brutally stabbed to death with a sickle in front of his 6-year-old daughter.

- YOSHINI PERUMAL

The attack stemmed from a dispute over a R750 loan from a loan shark for which he had stood as guarantor.

Ngaka Doctor Mphuthi, 33, of Shakas Head, died from stab wounds to his stomach, rib cage and chest, on Saturday.

His mother-in-law, Lorraine Dhavasiam, 56, said Mphuthi had stood as a guarantor for the couple, who were his tenants. They had borrowed money from a loan shark.

“The loan for R750 was taken three months ago. When they failed to pay the money back, the loan shark became angry and began putting pressure on my son-in-law,” she said.

“On Saturday at about 11.30am, Mphuthi was walking to a local store with my granddaughter, who is six years old, when the loan shark spotted him and assaulted him. He was furious because the tenants had not paid him back.

“Mphuthi was upset that he had been assaulted in front of his daughter. He returned home and confronted the female tenant,” said Dhavasiam.